Background
I, Sarah Grimke, am strongly devoted to the rights we hold as individuals. Slavery and sexism should by no means be tolerated in the United States. My father was a successful judge in South Carolina where I grew up. Our family had a plantation and I was able to see first hand the anguish of slaves. This ultimately was a great influence on my work to abolish slavery. After the death of my father (1821) I moved to Philadelphia and converted to the Quaker faith.

Accomplishments and Reform Work
I am an abolitionist and a women’s rights advocate. Through my work, I am looking to abolish slavery and gain rights for women.

My sister Angelica and I became some of the first women to speak publicly on our opposition to slavery. I was able to write “Epistle to the Clergy of the Southern States” which denied the fact that slavery was acceptable in the Bible. Additionally, I constructed the “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, and the Condition of Woman” expressing the equality of all human beings which should be demonstrated in America. As I stated, I was one of the first women to speak publicly about my views of slavery but in addition, I was the first woman to do so in front of a mixed crowd which included men and women. My sister and I also became the first women to lecture for the American Antislavery Society.


References

My sister Angelica Grimke greatly supported my reform efforts. We shared the vision to abolish slavery as well as earn rights for women. We worked together and became some of the first women to speak out against slavery.

Theodore Weld was another individual who supported my efforts of reform. Weld is my sister, Angelica’s husband. He plays a great role in the antislavery movement and we were able to work together.

Bibliography

African American Registry -- Your Source for African American History. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. <http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php?id=1126>.
"Anti-Slavery Society." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAantislavery.htm>.
"Rights for Women." National Women's History Museum. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. <http://www.nwhm.org/RightsforWomen/Grimke.html>.
"Women of the Hall." National Women's Hall of Fame. Web. 24 Feb. 2010. <http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=70>.
"Women's Rights National Historical Park - Grimke Sisters (U.S. National Park Service)." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. http://www.nps.gov/wori/historyculture/grimke-sisters.htm.